{"id":693436,"date":"2026-05-25T11:58:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T11:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/693436\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T11:58:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T11:58:10","slug":"top-4-vaccine-queries-to-the-p2p-advice-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/693436\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 4 vaccine queries to the P2P Advice Line"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

With the expansion of pharmacy vaccination services across Australia, pharmacists are navigating an increasingly layered set of challenges.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bill Wallace, PSA Pharmacist \u2013 Professional Support Adviser, outlines the most common vaccine-related questions that have come through this year.<\/p>\n

1. Who can administer FluMist?<\/p>\n

The introduction of intranasal influenza vaccine, FluMist, has prompted a wave of questions surrounding eligibility, prescribing and administration requirements.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Funding and eligibility differences between each state and territory are driving many of the inquiries.<\/p>\n

\u2018We have had quite a few inquiries about whether [pharmacists] can administer FluMist to someone under 5 if they\u2019ve got a prescription, which they can,\u2019 said Mr Wallace.<\/p>\n

State differences apply<\/a> for initiation\u2013 Pharmacists in VIC, TAS, NT, and ACT are generally restricted to authorising and administering vaccines only to children aged 5 years and older. Whereas In NSW, WA, QLD, and SA, pharmacists can authorise and administer the influenza vaccine to children aged 2 and older.<\/p>\n

Another recurring question is whether pharmacists who are not qualified immunisers can administer FluMist \u2013 given it\u2019s administered nasally rather than via an intramuscular injection.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr Wallace noted that any vaccine administered by a pharmacist must be delivered by a qualified immuniser.<\/p>\n

\u2018You need to be a qualified immuniser to meet the requirements for administering that particular medication. You\u2019d be hard pressed to justify why you did it if something went wrong,\u2019 said Mr Wallace.<\/p>\n

The responsibility extends beyond simple administrative practices, and relates to professional accountability and emergency management responsibilities.<\/p>\n

Mr Wallace noted that while serious reactions are rare, pharmacists still need to be prepared for any situation at hand.<\/p>\n

\u2018If you weren\u2019t qualified and a claim was made, your insurer and The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) would have many questions for you about your practice.\u2019<\/p>\n

2. Can pharmacists co-administer vaccines?<\/p>\n

As Australia\u2019s adult vaccination schedules get more complex, co-administration <\/a>queries are becoming increasingly common.<\/p>\n

\u2018Timing intervals and co-administration of vaccines is probably one of the more common clinical inquiries,\u2019 Mr Wallace said.<\/p>\n

Questions to the advice line often relate to whether vaccines can be given together, which vaccines require spacing, and whether they should be administered in one arm or both.<\/p>\n

The National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance guideline for vaccine co-administration <\/a>and Australian Immunisation Handbook state that while most vaccines can generally be co-administered, separate injection sites should be used where possible,\u00a0 ensuring a distance of 2.5 cm between.<\/p>\n

But Mr Wallace suggests pharmacists should also take additional care when reviewing Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) records and confirming patient histories to avoid inadvertent duplication<\/p>\n

Particularly for older Australians, co-administration will be increasingly normalised for\u00a0 routine adult vaccinations (e.g. RSV, shingles, pneumoccocal, DTPa etc).\u00a0<\/p>\n

3. Can pharmacists vaccinate interstate?<\/p>\n

Interstate practice continues to create a point of tension for pharmacist immunisers as requirements differ significantly between jurisdictions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are discrepancies between patient age eligibility, refresher requirements and additional accreditation, meaning pharmacists cannot automatically assume their qualifications transfer across all states and territories.<\/p>\n

There are also differences between state and territory legislations which govern interstate pharmacists\u2019 eligibility to administer vaccines, introducing barriers to interstate practice, according to the Immunisation Coalition.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018Certain states, Tasmania, Victoria, and WA have slightly different training requirements \u2026 you need to ensure that you meet local state immunisation requirements prior to providing vaccinations,\u2019 Mr Wallace said.<\/p>\n

He stresses the importance of \u2018checking what the differences are, and referring to resources like the local state pharmacist vaccination guidelines<\/a> before administering vaccines\u2019.<\/p>\n

In some cases, pharmacists may need to complete an additional online module, although requirements vary. For example, the ACT has a Japanese encephalitis module that is required, and Victoria requires extra training to be able to provide certain travel vaccines.<\/p>\n

Complicating matters further, immunisation requirements and eligibility for state and territory programs may change.<\/p>\n

4. How do pharmacists maintain immunisation credentials?<\/p>\n

Is it a matter of once a pharmacist immuniser, always a pharmacist immuniser?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Not quite.<\/p>\n

According to Ahpra<\/a>\u00a0and state regulators, pharmacists must undertake annual immunisation-related CPD activities to maintain their currency.<\/p>\n

\u2018Pharmacists must also maintain first aid every 3 years and CPR every 12 months,\u2019 Mr Wallace said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The PSA offers an online refresher training course<\/a> which aligns with the current immunisation training. The training program consists of online modules to ensure a pharmacists\u2019 accredited training<\/a> remains up to date.<\/p>\n

\u2018Some pharmacists did their vaccination courses a long time ago, with a much limited range of vaccines,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

\u2018There is also an Immunisation Practical Refresher Workshop<\/a> that pharmacists can do if they\u2019ve had a break in practice or want to refresh their technique.\u2019<\/p>\n

The online immunisation refresher course allows pharmacists to expand their training to cover all vaccines.<\/p>\n

Looking for any answers to your queries? Hit up the Pharmacist Advice Line here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the expansion of pharmacy vaccination services across Australia, pharmacists are navigating an increasingly layered set of challenges.\u00a0…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":693437,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[14841,64,63,106039,338293,116708,137,145,3851],"class_list":["post-693436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-ahpra","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-immunisation-handbook","tag-co-administration","tag-flumist","tag-health","tag-influenza","tag-vaccination"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=693436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/693437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=693436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=693436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=693436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}